Just Peel Out the Watchword [Open]

[Nerissa Bywater]

<sup>(( OOC: IF YOU CAN'T READ HIS SPEECH, HIGHLIGHT IT. D< ))


Hello Camp Half-Blood. There is a New One in your midst, and he is one Most Unwelcome by at least one person at camp.

Kenneth Reilly, however, had no idea that someone felt this way. He was walking quite sprightly down Half-Blood Hill, carrying a suitcase, with a backpack slung across one shoulder. He wore a dark blue sweatshirt and a pair of jeans with new running shoes. He seemed to know exactly where he was going for someone who'd never been here before, as he marched down the path and headed for the Big House. (Granted, since it was the biggest building in the place, maybe it was obvious. Does that mean everyone else who came before him was stupid?)

Splashing in some slush from the melting snow, Kenneth looked around. No one on the porch, as he'd heard was common, so he knocked on the door.

No answer.

"Well..."

Looking to his right and left, Kenneth saw a window with no blinds or curtains over it. Edging over to it, he looked inside. He could see someone sitting at a table, reading a newspaper.

That someone happened to be Nerissa. Her hair was down and she was dressed warmly in a sweater and slippers, with a fleece blanket around her legs and enjoying some time off. She was rather out of it, to be honest, which was why she hadn't responded to Kenneth's knock.

Rolling his eyes, Kenneth knocked harder. Nerissa heard this time, and opened the door.

"Ye-oh, hi!" A little confused - she'd thought the knocker was a camper who needed help of some sort - Nerissa looked down at the 13 year old. "Uh...are you new?"

"Yep." Kenneth stuck out a hand. "Kenneth Reilley, son of Danu. I'm here from Cuan Cladach as an ambassador...where is Chiron?"

Well, that wasn't expect. There were so few Celtic demigods, Nerissa would have thought that the didn't even have a camp if it weren't for Niamh constantly talking about how their camp was so much cooler.

Nerissa shook his hand. "Nerissa Bywater. I'm the rowing instructor. And Chiron isn't here right now, he's off on some sort of mission. Neither is Mr. D, so it's either me or Urania you're stuck with right now." She gave him a wry smile.</sup>

[Nestor Ricci]

<sub>It was kind of nice day, despite the remnants of slush that were laying around the camp and trapping innocent campers in their mushy wet clutches. The sun was shining, warming the backs of all who had been forced to board a boat and row pointlessly around the lake. Nestor, luckily, was not one of those rowers. Still, he didn’t exactly like the day time. The day time meant he had to be someone else. He had to be nice and smile, pretty and modest, smart and strong – all that shit that he wasn’t exactly the biggest fan was.

While he was debating just what he would do to get anyone who might be pestering him to train off his back – he was thinking about just shooting arrows, but he hadn’t raced chariots in awhile – he meandered aimlessly over to the Big House. To his surprise, he saw two people conversing at the door. Not that that was really a surprise. But one of them was Nerissa Bywater, and Nestor knew she was the rowing instructor. But hadn’t he just said that there were some poor fools doing rowing training while she had evidently been curled up cosily. Great to know.

The other thing that drew his attention was the kid who was standing there awkwardly with a bag on his shoulders. Nestor checked him over a couple times. Looked pretty plain but not like unattractive or anything, also a little bit younger than him. He adjusted his white and black chequered button-up – chosen to set off his darker skin tone – and sidled up to the new kid.

”Hey Nerissa,” he said with what he knew could pass as a charming smile. He turned his attention to the new kid, still sizing him up. There was something a little off about him – he didn’t look Greek. ”Uhm, I’m Nestor. Nestor Ricci. Apollo. If you couldn’t tell by my bow.” The silver bow that had been a “present” from his dad was slung across his back. He knew it was just a way to keep him appeased and to keep him from acting up or thinking anything against the Olympians. Right, because that worked so well. But Nestor kept the fake smile on his face. He might not like people much, but it didn’t hurt to be friendly.</sub>

[Nerissa Bywater]

<sup>Nerissa looked up at the sound of someone's voice, and then smiled and waved. "Oh, hi, Nestor," she said.

Kenneth, in his forthright manner, stuck out his hand. "Hi Nestor. I'm Kenneth Reilly. From the Celtic camp." Adjusting his weight, he looked over his shoulder at Nerissa. "So if Chiron isn't here, what should I do?"

Nerissa looked up at the top of the doorframe. "Um, so you have a letter or anything from him?"

"Yeah." Taking his bag off, Kenneth unzipped it, reached inside, and produced a piece of paper, which he handed to Nerissa.

Taking it from him, she scanned it quickly. It did say that he was going to be an ambassador for the camp.

Looking abck up, she nodded at him while handing the letter back, smiling. "Okay. I'll take you to your cabin I guess, then. Want to come?" she asked, addressing Nestor.</sup>

[Nestor Ricci]

<sub>He smiled again, more out of lack of anything to say than anything else. He met Kenneth’s handshake with a firm shake of his hand, happy that this new kid wasn’t appearing to be perpetually annoying or anything bothersome like that. ”Nice to meet you,” he replied. Celtic camp? So he had been right – the boy wasn’t Greek. He watched the next exchange rather vaguely, running a hand through his hair and yawning slightly. Letter, camp, ambassador, got it. Nestor snapped back into focus when Nerissa addressed him. He shrugged. ”Yeah, uh, sure.”

Still close to Kenneth, he reached out to take the boy’s bag. ”I’ll carry it for you, if you want. Don’t worry about it.” Waiting only half a second for an answer, Nestor went ahead and took the bag anyways, carefully placing it on his back beside the bow.</sub>